Insider Tips for This Weekend’s Behemoth Bushwick Open Studios

Para-Projections is one of a great many things to see at BOS this weekend.

Arts in Bushwick, the volunteer-fueled creative entity behind a number of yearly Bushwick-wide events, is gearing up for its biggest iteration yet of its biggest annual event, Bushwick Open Studios.

To help you sift through the well over 500 listings this year, and to introduce you to some of the festival’s special features in 2012, I asked one of the volunteer coordinators, Holly Shen Chaves, a few questions about what’s new, what’s neat, what she’s particularly into.

What’s new this year?

Where do I even start? Aside from the debut of our fancy new iPhone app that features artist listings and a map of the neighborhood, I am eager to check out Holy BOS. Henry Glucroft has been instrumental in making this multi-faceted arts and culture epicenter come together, and he has been an advocate for artists and projects that may lack conventional gallery spaces to realize their ideas. Plus, there’s going to be a Gospel Brunch on Sunday, brilliant! Also, in our sixth consecutive year, BOS has the highest number of registered spaces and artists—over 500! Even more exciting is the coverage aspect. For example, the popular and blog Art Fag City received a Brooklyn Arts Council grant to provide coverage of this year’s BOS, and they’re looking forward to writing about our activities.

Those items aside, is there anything else you’d say participants and visitors might be looking forward in particular?

The music festival at Lone Wolf (1089 Broadway and Expo 929, 929 Broadway) is shaping up to be very promising, if nothing else because of the PBR open bar. But also because of talented local bands like The Jay Vons, Born Loose and Strange Haze. Also, the lovely Julia Sinelnikova is curating this year’s Seeking Space exhibition, an open-call show for any artist without a designated studio space. That will be at the Loom Gallery (1087 Flushing Ave.)

What are you most excited about?

Well, admittedly, I’m most excited for my own project! I’m curating a show called Para-Projections, featuring the sculptures of Bushwick artist Julia Colavita and Brooklyn-based artist Matthew Brennan. They are two of the most talented artists I’ve met in a long time, and both were such a pleasure to work with. Be sure to check out our interactive mobile installation at Brooklyn Fireproof East (119 Ingraham)!